EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – Crews in Evansville have begun erecting a fence around a contaminated former industrial complex to keep people off that 7-acre site.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports (http://bit.ly/1Es0S3m ) that a fencing company began the work at the former Miller Plating & Metal Finishing property Wednesday.

That abandoned site is covered with debris and basins of murky water. It has been open to area children and others attracted by the large empty space.

The Courier & Press reported this month that taxpayers footed the bill for a $1.4 million surface waste cleanup after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found hazardous wastes were left at the site when Miller Plating closed in 2007.

The site still must undergo an Indiana Department of Environmental Management-led soil cleanup that's in the planning stages.